APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

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APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:05 am

Image Beautiful Comet Nishimura

Explanation: This scene would be beautiful even without the comet. By itself, the sunrise sky is an elegant deep blue on high, with faint white stars peeking through, while near the horizon is a pleasing tan. By itself, the foreground hills of eastern Slovakia are appealingly green, with the Zadňa hura and Veľká hora hills in the distance, and with the lights of small towns along the way. Venus, by itself on the right, appears unusually exquisite, surrounded by a colorful atmospheric corona. But what attracts the eye most is the comet. On the left, in this composite image taken just before dawn yesterday morning, is Comet Nishimura. On recent mornings around the globe, its bright coma and long ion tail make many a morning panoramic photo unusually beautiful. Tomorrow, C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) will pass its nearest to the Earth for about the next 434 years.

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Ann
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by Ann » Mon Sep 11, 2023 5:27 am


What an exquisitely beautiful image!!! :D

As the caption said, the colors are gorgeous. The sky, the landscape, and then Venus and the comet - absolutely glorious!!!

Obviously I love the halo around Venus. When I first saw the picture, I thought that Venus was the Moon, because the softly colorful light surrounding our sister planet sure looks like a lunar halo.

And I love the elongated cloud to the left of Venus that makes Venus look as if Venus had a cometary tail, too! :D

I find the comet stunning. Its somewhat bluish-cyan coma is a bit bluer than I would have expected, but hey - I'm not complaining!!! The comet's blue tail is beautiful, of course, and it sure stands out against the sky. Looks like the comet only has an ion tail and not a dust tail, then? I suppose that with such a makeup the comet can't be a too frequent flyer to the vicinity of the Sun - although it is apparently expected to return in "only" 434 years?

But as for the background stars, can anyone help me? What is the bright star seen immediately to the upper left of the comet's coma? I'm thinking that it might just be Regulus, because obviously Venus is seen in the east in the morning, and Regulus should be somewhere in the east in the morning at this time of year, too.

But if the star next to the comet is Regulus, then what is the intensely reddish object to the lower right of the comet? Could it by any chance be Mars? I doubt it, because if the star next to the comet is Regulus, then Mars is too far away from it to make an appearance here. Okay, so could it be Mercury? Maybe possibly maybe?

And what stars are near Venus? Isn't Venus in Cancer now? But there are no bright stars in Cancer. Is it even possible that Venus was in Hydra when the background sky for the APOD was photographed, and that the stars near Venus in the APOD belong to constellation Hydra?

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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by Knight of Clear Skies » Mon Sep 11, 2023 8:08 am

That's a beautiful image.
Ann wrote: Mon Sep 11, 2023 5:27 am But as for the background stars, can anyone help me? What is the bright star seen immediately to the upper left of the comet's coma? I'm thinking that it might just be Regulus, because obviously Venus is seen in the east in the morning, and Regulus should be somewhere in the east in the morning at this time of year, too.

But if the star next to the comet is Regulus, then what is the intensely reddish object to the lower right of the comet? Could it by any chance be Mars? I doubt it, because if the star next to the comet is Regulus, then Mars is too far away from it to make an appearance here. Okay, so could it be Mercury? Maybe possibly maybe?

And what stars are near Venus? Isn't Venus in Cancer now? But there are no bright stars in Cancer. Is it even possible that Venus was in Hydra when the background sky for the APOD was photographed, and that the stars near Venus in the APOD belong to constellation Hydra?

Ann
The image was taken early on the morning of 9th September, when the comet was just below Adhafera in Leo. The bright star below and to the right is Algieba. Regulus is hidden in the cloud.

The star to the left of Venus is Acubens in Cancer. The stars of the head of Hydra are below and to the right.

I used the comet finder in Heavens Above and Stellarium to find the correct date and match everything up. Hope that's some help.
Caradon Observatory, Cornwall, UK.

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Ann
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by Ann » Mon Sep 11, 2023 9:57 am

Knight of Clear Skies wrote: Mon Sep 11, 2023 8:08 am That's a beautiful image.
Ann wrote: Mon Sep 11, 2023 5:27 am But as for the background stars, can anyone help me? What is the bright star seen immediately to the upper left of the comet's coma? I'm thinking that it might just be Regulus, because obviously Venus is seen in the east in the morning, and Regulus should be somewhere in the east in the morning at this time of year, too.

But if the star next to the comet is Regulus, then what is the intensely reddish object to the lower right of the comet? Could it by any chance be Mars? I doubt it, because if the star next to the comet is Regulus, then Mars is too far away from it to make an appearance here. Okay, so could it be Mercury? Maybe possibly maybe?

And what stars are near Venus? Isn't Venus in Cancer now? But there are no bright stars in Cancer. Is it even possible that Venus was in Hydra when the background sky for the APOD was photographed, and that the stars near Venus in the APOD belong to constellation Hydra?

Ann
The image was taken early on the morning of 9th September, when the comet was just below Adhafera in Leo. The bright star below and to the right is Algieba. Regulus is hidden in the cloud.

The star to the left of Venus is Acubens in Cancer. The stars of the head of Hydra are below and to the right.

I used the comet finder in Heavens Above and Stellarium to find the correct date and match everything up. Hope that's some help.
Thanks a bunch! Yes, that certainly helps!

Constellation Leo with star names stars astro illinois edu.png
Constellation Leo with star names.

So the comet is located between Zeta (Adhafera) and Gamma (Algieba) Leonis in the APOD.


As for the stars near Venus, they are the Alpha star of constellation Cancer and also stars from the "head of the Hydra":



You can see constellation Leo and Cancer to the right of it. You can also see constellation Hydra and the "head of the Hydra" at upper center right. To the upper left of the head of the Hydra is Alpha Cancri, or Acubens, which is seen to the left of Venus. The stars below and to the right of Venus belong to the head of the Hydra.

Thanks again! :D

Ann
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by johnnydeep » Mon Sep 11, 2023 2:40 pm

This is indeed a gorgeous shot. It looks like a vista straight out of a story by Lord Dunsany, in which you can catch a glimpse of lands "beyond the fields we know". This image is a keeper for sure.
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by johnnydeep » Mon Sep 11, 2023 2:44 pm

So, in view of the star identification discussion above, who's going to be enterprising and post a mouse-over compilation of this APOD image and a matching background star chart?
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Sep 11, 2023 3:23 pm

DSCF4968_PS_Lioce-1024.jpg
Beautiful Comet Nishimura!
Smiling-Cat.jpg
Kitty looks a little Smug! :lol2:
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by johnnydeep » Thu Dec 21, 2023 1:45 pm

carterode wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:56 am Undoubtedly, this is a stunning photograph. You can get a peek of places that are "beyond the fields we know" in this scene, which appears to be a scene taken directly from a narrative written by Lord Dunsany. Without a doubt, this photograph is one to keep.
You seem to be referencing my signature. 🙂
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by Chris Peterson » Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:22 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 1:45 pm
carterode wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:56 am Undoubtedly, this is a stunning photograph. You can get a peek of places that are "beyond the fields we know" in this scene, which appears to be a scene taken directly from a narrative written by Lord Dunsany. Without a doubt, this photograph is one to keep.
You seem to be referencing my signature. 🙂
AI forum response bots will easily make that sort of error.
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by johnnydeep » Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:58 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:22 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 1:45 pm
carterode wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:56 am Undoubtedly, this is a stunning photograph. You can get a peek of places that are "beyond the fields we know" in this scene, which appears to be a scene taken directly from a narrative written by Lord Dunsany. Without a doubt, this photograph is one to keep.
You seem to be referencing my signature. 🙂
AI forum response bots will easily make that sort of error.
Seriously? Even the Dunsany reference? And there's not even a spam link in that response, so what would be the point?
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"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by Chris Peterson » Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:03 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:58 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:22 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 1:45 pm

You seem to be referencing my signature. 🙂
AI forum response bots will easily make that sort of error.
Seriously? Even the Dunsany reference? And there's not even a spam link in that response, so what would be the point?
There seems to be a burst of recent posts, probably all from the same source (which slight variations on username), that follow the pattern of superficially commenting on earlier posts. Perhaps an experiment, perhaps just to build post count in advance of spam. The posts don't seem genuine. They do sound an awful lot like generative AI output.
Chris

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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by johnnydeep » Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:09 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 3:03 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:58 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:22 pm

AI forum response bots will easily make that sort of error.
Seriously? Even the Dunsany reference? And there's not even a spam link in that response, so what would be the point?
There seems to be a burst of recent posts, probably all from the same source (which slight variations on username), that follow the pattern of superficially commenting on earlier posts. Perhaps an experiment, perhaps just to build post count in advance of spam. The posts don't seem genuine. They do sound an awful lot like generative AI output.
Maybe. I figured that the "fields" text in my sig would have been hidden from search algos by the Zalgo decorations, but apparently not since I can search for "fields" in this webpage and it finds that Zalgo text just fine. However the more complicated Zalgo text embellishments of "beyond" do manage to elude my (Chrome based) browser search function. Odd.
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"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}

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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by bystander » Thu Dec 21, 2023 6:03 pm

johnnydeep wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:58 pm Seriously? Even the Dunsany reference? And there's not even a spam link in that response, so what would be the point?
Actually there was a spam link which has now been carefully edited out and the original post sequestered.
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Re: APOD: Beautiful Comet Nishimura (2023 Sep 11)

Post by johnnydeep » Thu Dec 21, 2023 8:50 pm

bystander wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 6:03 pm
johnnydeep wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2023 2:58 pm Seriously? Even the Dunsany reference? And there's not even a spam link in that response, so what would be the point?
Actually there was a spam link which has now been carefully edited out and the original post sequestered.
Thanks for the clarification!
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"To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}